The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Many sociologists have tried to explore the link between social class and educational achievement, measuring the effects of one element upon the other. In order to maintain a definite correlation between the two, there are a number of views, explanations, social statistics and perspectives which must be taken into account. The initial idea would be to define the key terms which are associated with how "social class" affects "educational achievement." "Social class" is the identity of people, according to the work they do and the community in which they live in."Educational achievement" is the tendency for some groups to do better or worse in terms of educational success. Research reveals that the higher the social class, the higher the levels of educational achievement are likely to be. The children of parents in higher social classes are more likely to stay on in post compulsory education, more likely to achieve examination passes when at school, and more likely to gain university entrance. These features painted a true picture of British education in the twentieth century and can be argued to follow this trend today. However, whether there has been any reduction in the inequalities is more debatable, but some research suggests that these inequalities are as great as ever, despite the overall improvements within the education system. Many researchers argue that IQ tests are biased in favour of the middle class, since members of this group largely construct them. If it is accepted that social classes and other groups have distinctive subcultures and that this affe... ... middle of paper ... ... to reject school and school values (such as academic success). This has its roots outside of school in the nature of the fathers and elder brothers' in manual work. They look up to these figures and see school as "sissy", un-masculine, unlike the "real" masculine work that their fathers, brothers etc do. Overall, in conclusion there can be no definite correlation identified between "social class" and "educational achievement" in that there is much research into this and many sociologists suggest their own theories, and have yet not decided whether there is a link or not. However, there does seem to be correlation of some kind as sociologists either favour it or not. It can be still said that the main relationship between these factors is the higher the social class; the more likely the pupil is going to succeed.
Perry, E and Francis, B., 2010. The social class gap for educational achievement: a review of the literature. [online] RSA projects. Available at: [accessed 12 January 2014].
In her article she points out how social class has become the main gateway to opportunity in America. The widening academic divide means that kids who grow up poor will most likely stay poor and the kids who grow up rich will most likely stay rich. About fifty years ago the main concern about getting a good education relied on your race but now it's about your social class. Researchers are starting to believe that children who come from higher income families tend to do better in school and get higher test scores.
The work children are given in school is mostly based on the social class that the
Success. Society tends to correlate “success” with the obtainment of a higher education. But what leads to a higher education? What many are reluctant to admit is that the American dream has fallen. Class division has become nearly impossible to repair. From educations such as Stanford, Harvard, and UCLA to vocational, adult programs, and community, pertaining to one education solely relies on one’s social class. Social class surreptitiously defines your “success”, the hidden curriculum of what your socioeconomic education teaches you to stay with in that social class.
Social Class and Education”. It opens by discussing research conducted in the 1960’s in an effort to identify factors contributing to differences in the academic achievement of Whites and Blacks (Banks & Banks, 2013). Researchers hypothesized that the achievement gaps were mainly the result of disparities in school resources and characteristics, but found that there is a high correlation between achievement and socioeconomic status (SES) (Banks & Banks, 2013). Furthermore, attention is drawn to the class stratification which exists in our educational system and works to maintain inequality through exclusion strategies such as ability grouping and tracking (Banks & Banks, 2013). Evidence of the correlation between social class and education is presented with a glimpse into our higher education system. Despite the significant expansion in the number postsecondary institutions, and an increase in overall enrollment of low-income students, they are more likely to enroll in two-year, rather than four-year institutions, and privileged student attendance in highly selective institutions is increasing (Banks & Banks, 2013). The unintended consequence of the expansion of higher education institutions is an increase in class inequality, rather than a decrease, as more privileged students seek admittance to more selective institutions, locking less privileged students out (Banks & Banks, 2013). Greater access to the best universities helps privileged students maintain their class status, independent of their individual qualities. Consequently, privileged students have greater access to higher quality resources than do less privileged students attending less selective institutions, thereby inhibiting movement up the social class ladde...
There are many opportunities in America that can improve one’s wealth and power, thus leading to the mass amount of immigrants coming to American. Most immigrants that come to American usually are categorized as the lower class immigrants, but they take any opportunities to improve their economic status. In an article by Howard P. Chudacoff, it states “immigrants generally chose upward paths that led from manual labor into small proprietorships” (Chudacoff 1982: 104). This explains the reason why immigrants choose to come and stay in America. They start out small as laborers then over time they will work to own a small business. Even though immigrants gets to grow to move from the lower class to the middle class, the natives will be always
The first quote from Marx is “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle” (Levine 19). This quote reflects the stratified time period Marx grew up in. he was born during the French revolution and saw the effects of the industrial revolution on the communities around him. This time has influenced his writing because one of the major themes he talks about is social stratification. The quote describes how stratification has existed in every culture and society and will continue to. This class structure affects history and the revolutions and other significant events that happen. The reign of the house of Bourbon caused a lot of social stratification in France and their reign ended with the French revolution that
Since the beginning of time, social class and race have been paramount in society. Back in the time of caveman, roles and traditions were passed down based on gender. The man was responsible for protection and collecting food while women were responsible for cooking and keeping house. That belief has traversed time and slowly changes with each era. But throughout history, men and women have lived with preconceived notions of their duties to their families. These notions have been passed down generations and have affected how people live within their society. In the novel “Like Water for Chocolate”, social class is revered in the story of the De la Garza family. As we see through the personal journey of Tita, the main character, these distinctions are evident.
America is seen as the land of opportunity across the world, but many people wonder if it is true. The truth is America does have opportunities and with dedication anything is possible though the opportunities are limited. Usually limited for those who belong to a lower social class. The main reason the opportunities are limited are because of America’s social inequality. The social class of America is separated into multiple groups that struggle with each other due to the inequality of power and wealth on the daily basis within the country.
The first difference you see between the middle and working class in education is the selection of primary schools as for some it is the first time they are going to enter into the academic world. At this point the family as a whole are entering into “unfamiliar worlds” (Jackson and Marsden, 1966, page 99) in the process of selecting and applying for schools. The middle class aim is to have their children go to a successful school with a good Ofsted report just like the working class. However it is harder for the working class to get into these schools due to a range of factors. Some of these restricting factors are their knowledge of the system and economic status or wealth; they may not have the facilities for tra...
Social class should not be used to define a person. Every person has the ability to overcome the roadblocks that society has placed in their path, so long as they have the determination and motivation. In Gerald Graff’s article, “Hidden Intellectualism” , he explains how social class is irrelevant when it comes to education, despite what society will lead you to believe. He displays how everyone is intelligent in his or her own way.Lynda Barry during her article, “ The Sanctuary of School” spoke about the importance of education to her and many other students like her.Another writer, Mike Rose shows how despite the thoughts that society puts in our heads we can still be successful in his article “Blue Collar Brilliance”.Regardless of social
It is perpetuated by the way wealth, power, and prestige are distributed and passed on from one generation to the next
Strange, M. (March 01, 2011). Finding Fairness for Rural Students. Phi Delta Kappan,92, 6, 8-
Social class has a major influence over the success and experience of young people in education; evidence suggests social class affects educational achievement, treatment by teachers and whether a young person is accepted into higher education. “34.6 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent including English and mathematics GCSEs, compared to 62.0 per cent of all other pupils” (Attew, 2012). Pupils eligible for FSM are those whose families earn less than £16,000 a year (Shepherd, J. Sedghi, A. and Evans, L. 2012). Thus working-class young people are less likely to obtain good GCSE grades than middle-class and upper-class young people.
It can be argued that the academic performance of children has nothing to do with their socioeconomic status, because there have been many cases of children from very poor families who have excelled greatly in academics (APA, 2017). Furthermore, many predominantly high-end schools have posted poor results when compared to school with poorer backgrounds. This is despite the fact children from lower socioeconomic classes do not have access to the best forms of learning materials. The high performance of children from poor backgrounds is often attributed to the fact that they are not preoccupied with many activities which would otherwise hinder them from concentrating on their studies (Sacerdote, 2002). Therefore, some believe it is false to say that poor performance is associated with children who come from low socioeconomic classes. Rather, they believe academic achievement is genetic (Sacerdote, 2002).